Jonathan (John) Berry, chair of the Capital Planning Committee, briefed the Millis Finance Committee on Oct. 15 about the committee’s inventory and priority ranking for town capital needs.

Berry said the committee received a relatively small set of requests this cycle — four regular capital items totaling about $208,000 — and rated two as highest priority: replacement gas meters for the Fire Department and a Chevy Silverado 3,500 pickup/dump truck with plow and sander for the Department of Public Works. Two items were ranked medium priority: replacement downtown street-light poles and a planning-department code-management software package.

On the larger issue of school facilities, Berry said the committee reviewed updated estimates with the School Building Committee and building consultants and “is fully supportive of that project.” He summarized the current best estimate as a roughly $125 million addition-and-renovation project, with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) expected to cover slightly more than half (about $68.8 million) and the town’s share roughly $57 million. Berry noted the town’s share has fallen from earlier estimates.

Berry also reported the committee’s higher-level inventory of town capital needs totals about $92.5 million over the next 10 years, of which the school project represents the largest single chunk; the remainder includes vehicles for police, fire and DPW plus sewer, water and stormwater work. The committee is entering its inventory into newly purchased capital-planning software to improve tracking and reporting next year.

Committee member Eric Martinson, who recently joined the capital planning panel, said the scoring process felt like “an art and a science” but produced largely consistent rankings among members. Berry said the group expects to have more data in the software by next fall, with a goal of having most items entered by spring but full functionality more likely by the fall meeting of 2026.

The committee asked departments for 10-year forecasts of capital needs; Berry explained that planned items can appear in the inventory before a formal request is made to place them on a town-meeting warrant. He gave an example: the fire department’s need for a fire truck is in the inventory before a formal funding request appears on a warrant.

The Capital Planning Committee’s recommendations will feed into Finance Committee deliberations and select-board decisions on which items proceed to the town-meeting warrant for voter consideration.